This week’s 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation offered pitches for a nonprofit group devoted to relieving the stress of families with critically ill children and a company whose activity monitor for dogs lets their owners understand their pets’ health and behavior.

Before either startup took the stage, however, 1 Million Cups co-organizer Milton Jeffrey acknowledged the Kansas City Royals’ historic win over the Oakland Athletics in Tuesday night’s wild-card playoff game at Kauffman Stadium.

“We think if Mr. K were here today, he would be so excited,” Jeffrey said to loud applause.

Another wrinkle: This week’s 1 Million Cups instituted a new format featuring a panel of successful local business figures who joined audience members in quizzing the startup presenters following their presentations. The inaugural panel included Kevin McGinnis, a Sprint vice president and founder of the Sprint Accelerator, and George Hansen, president and CEO of the Enterprise Center of Johnson County.

First up was Staci Upham-Tubbs, founder of TNK Children’s Foundation, which serves the daily needs of families who have a critically ill child at home. The foundation utilizes volunteers who help by cooking meals, doing grocery shopping and cleaning house, as well as facilitating family fun time. The goal of the organization is to establish community centers in Kansas City and elsewhere that can assist such families in conjunction with children’s hospitals.

FitBark at 1 Million Cups

Next up was Davide Rossi, founder of FitBark, which markets a wearable activity monitor for dogs and a mobile app for their owners, who can learn more about Fido’s ongoing health issues and related patterns of behavior.

The FitBark activity monitor acts like a “baby monitor for dogs” and lets owners know “if something is off” with their animals, Rossi said. Health reports generated by the monitor, which retails for $99, can be shared with veterinarians and also show the comparative health of other dogs of the same breed.

“It’s a new window into the life of your dog,” Rossi said.